Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Ysmia]

I've discovered that they've implemented changes after the 1.1 Benchmark.



The mouth gap of Miqo'te Moonkeeper Face 4 has been added back (a feature that existed prior to the Graphics Update). With the new changes with lighting and texturing, however, this feature is now a glaring issue. Idle movements of the character make the rendering of the mouth appear to have a moving white line rather then teeth. This existed prior to the changes, but the teeth are brighter now.


Through cutscenes, especially in dark zones, this is made more obvious as the lips are darker in contrast. (I'm personally not a big fan of curving the ends of the mouth to make the character smile more, but I digress.)


Unrelated to the Benchmark: There is a significant amount of gloss with the new changes.

(Changing the gamma levels help, but it also darkens the brightness of the game.)

These are only observations and not demands. What does not appeal to me might appeal to others so I cannot make suggestions.

[KisaiTenshi]

I'm pretty sure they just used the same lip shape for everyone so they can simplify the "speaking" animation.

As captured in 6.58:

As captured in 7.0:


Now that I see it, the lower-eyelash placement is ... wrong. There is something wrong with the lower-eyelid

[MaxL]

I think I found out why hair shading seems so inconsistent from place to place. You can easily reproduce this using GPose.



Seriously, what is going on here? It's like half of its shading contribution is a uniform term.

[Neviklink]

I've discovered that they've implemented changes after the 1.1 Benchmark.



The mouth gap of Miqo'te Moonkeeper Face 4 has been added back (a feature that existed prior to the Graphics Update). With the new changes with lighting and texturing, however, this feature is now a glaring issue. Idle movements of the character make the rendering of the mouth appear to have a moving white line rather then teeth. This existed prior to the changes, but the teeth are brighter now.


Through cutscenes, especially in dark zones, this is made more obvious as the lips are darker in contrast. (I'm personally not a big fan of curving the ends of the mouth to make the character smile more, but I digress.)


Unrelated to the Benchmark: There is a significant amount of gloss with the new changes.

(Changing the gamma levels help, but it also darkens the brightness of the game.)

These are only observations and not demands. What does not appeal to me might appeal to others so I cannot make suggestions.

I agree with the lip gap being a glaring issue, it was also an issue before DT but i think depending on graphics settings it was less visible.

The gap seems to exist because of the overbite and the lower jaw.

more gap pics on different emotes, cutscenes show from slightly below emphasizing it

asked a midlander friend if their pucker up had a gap and it did not


album with a few more https://imgur.com/a/pggLB4i

EDIT: With the skin that's part of how they changed the specular lighting and if you look at pictures of actual people in the sun we do have some shine to our skin, it can be a bit hard to portray though.

[Daralii]

I think I found out why hair shading seems so inconsistent from place to place. You can easily reproduce this using GPose.


Seriously, what is going on here? It's like half of its shading contribution is a uniform term.

That's definitely a head scratcher.

[EmikoKitska]

I would like to add to this thread by linking one that myself and a few others contributed to, we did a lot of work and I really hope that it is seen by those overseeing this graphical change. Our feedback covers both Sun and Moon Miqo'te Face 3 with Eyes 3 + 4 and Mouth 4. OP and I really went into depth about our grievances and I feel that the majority of them are still present in 7.0.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-Eye-3-Mouth-4

[maddragonqueen]

I haven't really seen anyone else mention this, and I sadly do not have comparison pics, but wondering if anyone else thinks their character looks kind of dirty? I play a fairly dark-skinned Rava viera, though not the darkest, kind of a medium-to-light brown, and while I do like that I can see him better in cutscenes, I just keep thinking he looks like he has dirt all over his face. Like the skin looks almost mottled or something, instead of the smooth matte look of before.

[Daralii]

I haven't really seen anyone else mention this, and I sadly do not have comparison pics, but wondering if anyone else thinks their character looks kind of dirty? I play a fairly dark-skinned Rava viera, though not the darkest, kind of a medium-to-light brown, and while I do like that I can see him better in cutscenes, I just keep thinking he looks like he has dirt all over his face. Like the skin looks almost mottled or something, instead of the smooth matte look of before.

I think they might've tried to either add realism/detail or remove some of the glossiness by adding extra bump mapping. I can notice it in a screenshot I just took of a closeup, though only if I zoom in. It might be more noticeable in different lighting or on male characters.

https://files.catbox.moe/wchnd3.png

[IndraSyngiwyb]

These two pictures do a wonderful job of showing how much the eyes changed for the worse. If you don't mind, I'll take the liberty of sharing these with the Japanese thread.

By all means, please do.

[DynnDiablos]

Anyone else notice that the night skies have become more washed out and gray post-update? Some of the zones used to have such clear, dark starry skies and now they have diffused lighting where the stars all cast this hazy look across the sky. I was also disappointed the moon skybox now has whisps of moon fog? dust? that obscures what used to be a really gorgeous celestial sky.

Speaking of lighting, not a fan of the ambient light inside my personal house. It used to be saturated and moody and golden glow. Now no matter what I set it to it seems super bright and washed out.